Stoilensky produces its 15-millionth tonne of pellets

Stoilensky, part of NLMK Group, has produced its fifteen-millionth tonne of pellets since the launch of its pelletizing plant.

Launched in November 2016, the pelletizing plant has a design capacity of 6 million tonnes of pellets per year. In 2018, the plant reached the production capacity of 6.7 million tonnes of pellets (+12% yoy).

In March Stoilensky signed a development contract with the Finnish company Outotec to increase the pelletizing plant's installed capacity by a third - from 6 to 8 million tonnes of pellets per year.

Sergey Napolskikh, Stoilensky General Director, said:

“In order to reach the output of 8 million tonnes of pellets per year Stoilensky will need to upgrade several transformation stages of the current pelletizing plant. In particular, to build an additional grinding facility, implement a new filtration technology, upgrade the gas flow pattern of the induration machine, and update the control systems suite via digital technologies. This project, part of Strategy 2022, will ensure NLMK Group's control over the raw material costs in the long term”.
In 2019-2021 it is planned to boost ore production and beneficiation capacity by 14% through modernization of Stoilensky's other transformation stages with a view to ensure stable supply of raw materials to the pelletizer after it reaches the output of 8 million tonnes. This will enable the Company to increase its ore processing capacity from 37 million tonnes to 42 million tonnes and to increase its concentrate output from 17.3 million tonnes to 20 million tonnes per year.